PUTRAJAYA: The first meeting of the Economic Action Council (EAC), chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, kicked-off at 6pm at Perdana Putra here today.
The meeting is to deliberate on three working papers, two on efforts to address the rising cost of living, that will be tabled by the Economic Affairs and Domestic Trade and Consumerism Affairs ministries.
The Economic Affairs Ministry will also be tabling a paper on the setting up of the B40 Facilitation Fund which will use social entrepreneurship as the platform to raise the living standard of B40 households (B40 refers to the 40 per cent of the population who are in the lower income bracket).
The setting up the EAC was announced by the Prime Minister’s Office on Feb 11 to zero in and make decisions on economic and financial matters as well as on welfare of the people.
Chaired by the Prime Minister, others in the 16-strong council are Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng; Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali; International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking; Works Minister Baru Bian; Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid; former International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Also Council of Eminent Persons member Prof Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram; Public Bank managing director Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek; Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairman, Dr Hasnita Hashim; Bursa Malaysia chairman Datuk Shireen Ann Zaharah Muhiudeen; ASEAN Business Advisory Council Malaysia chairman, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Munir Abdul Majid; Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA) chief executive officer Datuk Dr Paul Selvaraj; lawyer Bah Tony @ Amani William Hunt Abdullah and Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (MASA) board of trustees member Nizam Mahshar. -Bernama